Welcome to a hard-boiled and not without noir blog with news and reviews, occasional outbursts of maniacal Autograph Hound activity, plus archival records from the forty-five year run of The Dashiell Hammett Tour. 
The Dashiell Hammett Tour
1977-2022
Arkham House Ephemera
The Classic Years 1937–1973
Death Lit
Essays and Reviews Selected from Fifty Years of Writing 1974–2024
Willeford
The Book
Category Archives: Frisco
Rediscovered: More on Derleth and the Little Review Phenom
A couple of weeks back John D. Haefele began a series of posts on August Derleth and the Little Review and part two just went live over on the Allied Authors of Wisconsin site, if you want to check it … Continue reading
Posted in Frisco, Lit
Tagged August Derleth, Clark Ashton Smith, Galley Sail Review, John D. Haefele, Stan McNail
Frisco Beat: Tenderloin Museum, Year One
Coming up fast on July 16, The Tenderloin Museum celebrates its first anniversary — details on the website or the Facebook page. From 10a.m. to 9p.m., free admission, with workshops, talks, jazz, a drag show — the whole historical and … Continue reading
Tour: Sunday June 12
For this month you’ll find a walk offered on Sunday June 12, where anyone can show up with $20 and join in. No appointment needed, but comfortable shoes come in handy. Noon start at the “L” sculpture. Followed by some … Continue reading
Frisco Beat: Remembering the Past
Brian Wallace tossed me another link that may be of interest to San Francisco history buffs — with most of the history really early stuff, barely making it into the 1920s. And it’s in cartoon format. But good cartooning, like … Continue reading
Frisco Beat: More William Worley
Trying — unsuccessfully, no doubt — to clear the decks of multifarious backlogged potential posts and flat-out delayed posts, I found this note from James Langdell, who surfed into Up and Down after finding the bit Lester Hardy contributed about San … Continue reading
Posted in Frisco, Lit
Tagged James Langdell, Lester Hardy, Lowell High School, San Francisco Mysteries, William Worley
Sinister Cinema: Orson
I believe it was sometime in 2010 or so when Matthew Asprey — more recently writing under the longer handle of Matthew Asprey Gear — hoofed These Mean Streets on the Hammett tour. He mentioned the moment in a book … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Frisco, News
Tagged Bret Wood, Contrappasso, Fully Dressed and in His Right Mind, John Fante, Lady from Shanghai, Lilly Library, Matthew Asprey, Michael Fessier, Orson Welles
Rediscovered: Solar Pons
Dove back into one of my favorite hobbies recently, when I landed a ten item trove of Arkham House ephemera. Ordered them mostly blind, though I had the sense that an item I needed might possibly be in the lot. … Continue reading
Tour: Sunday February 28
Shot above — I assemble the tour group for a gander at the Geary Theatre, where Joel Cairo had tix to see a play in The Maltese Falcon. With the brutal rains of winter pounding down, I’ve been doing only select … Continue reading
Rediscovered: The Life of Donald Sidney-Fryer
Mere months after putting the wraps to Hobgoblin Apollo, Donald Sidney-Fryer has placed his autobio with Hippocampus Press and they’re offering it at half-off — I think that is the presale price. The sample cover is an early draft version, … Continue reading
Posted in Frisco, Lit, News
Tagged August Derleth, Clark Ashton Smith, Donald Sidney-Fryer, Fritz Leiber, Hippocampus Press
Rediscovered: Xmas Noir
Got a note from the Jersey Noir photog Mark Krajnak — he appreciated my comparison of his cover for the new Race Williams omnibus to Alan Ladd, somehow summoning that sort of evocative iconography. That’s what happens with art, if you … Continue reading
Posted in Frisco, SFSC, Tour
Tagged Alan Ladd, Cacophony Society, Fritz Leiber, Fritz Leiber Tour, Jersey Noir, John Law, Kepler space telescope, Mark Krajnak, Race Williams, SantaCon, Xmas
